On Books – The Stories That Changed Me

Along the course of a lifetime of reading, some stories have a greater effect than others. These are the writings that changed me.

1: Cask of Amontillado Edgar Allen Poe – The story that made me fall in love with short stories. It began my journey to understand that storytelling was more than just telling the story.

2: Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – The series that showed me that stories could be richly detailed and complex.

3: Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson – a college reading assignment that stunned me. Again, a new way of telling a story, new ways of dealing with character.

4: Are You Running With Me Jesus by Malcolm Boyd – Showed me new ways to think about faith and prayer.

5: Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas – Poetry has never been my thing, but this one made me think about it. The power of words used artistically to tell a story. I’ve been a poetry dabbler ever since.

6: A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift and Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress by Benjamin Franklin – More required college reading. The idea that an essay might be interesting, sly and funny was the revelation. Decades later that wonder sticks with me.

7: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams – Again, new ways of telling a story, and a role that brought out whatever talent I possess as an actor. I will remember Tom Wingfield to the day I die.

Looking back over the list, I am surprised to see it came up as one each of a play, a poem, a pair of essays, a religious book, a novel, an epic series, and a short story. That wasn’t the plan, because there was no plan. I just thought about the stories that have stuck with me over the years and how they have changed me as a reader and a writer. Some them I have read again and again (LOTR, Amontillado, and Are You Running), others I haven’t read in years (the Thomas, Swift and Franklin). But change can happen in an instant and stay with you forever.

Which stories have changed you? What are the stories that have made you the reader and/or writer you are today?

Peace.

Jay